Pocketknife



G. M. SCHRADE POCKETKNIFE Filed March 3, 1930 June 16, 1931.

INVENTOR. 6eorye1f6cfirade .g zwv 7am ATTORNEYS.

m Mil" Patented June 16, 1931 islets].

GEORGE M. sCHnAnE, on BRIDGEPCRT, CONNECTICUT roCKE'rKN'Irn Applicationfiled March 3,

This invention relates to pocket knives of the class employing apress-button fly-open blade of the general type shown in Patent No.845,130, wherein the blades are held closed against the tension of aspring and are adapted to be thrown open by the action of the samespring, when the blade locking means is released by the operation of apush button.

An objection to these types of knives, as

now commercially manufactured is that the blade of such knives will notfly open in a manner to becaught and looked in an open position, and asa result the'blade rebounds and loosely hangs in intermediate positions,

making the operation very unsatisfactory,

since the operator never knows in justwhat position the'blade is goingto rest, when so operated. v 1 I It is therefore the object of mypresentin- 359 vention to improve upon this class of knives in severalrespects, first of which is to provide in connection with the flyspring, a brake to operate upon the annular edge of the tang portion ofthe blade in a way to prevent the blade from rebounding in its opening.operation, when released by the holding means;

' further to design the tang and spring so that the brake becomeseffective ator about the time the blade is thrown to aright angleposition to the handle, where friction is applied, breaking the rapidmovement :Of the blade and causingit to slowly approach and assume itsclear open and lock position;

Another feature of the knife is to provide friction adjacent the pivotalend of a blade wherebythe blade will not only remain in a closedposition but likewise in an openor any intermediate posit-ion to whichit might be placed. This form of friction is particu- 49 larly useful inconnection with; a nail. file blade as is commonly used today in knivesof thistype. f 7

..With these and other objects in view,the

invention resides and'consists in the construc- I tion and novelcombination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the'form,proportion, size an 1930. Serial No. 432,678.

minor details of construction within the scope of the claims mayberesorted to without departure from the spirit, or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

Similar charactersof reference denote like orcorrespondingpartsthroughout the several figures of the accompanying drawings forming apart of this specification and upon which Fig. 1 shows a plan view of asimple form of press-buttonffiy-open blade knife, having one blade inanopen position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation 'ofthe same knife wgchthe handle and liningremoved from one S1 e; V I

Fig. 3 is a similar'side elevation of a knife with lining and handleremoved and bladesin closed position;' t j Fig. 4a is a detail sideelevation of one end portion of the knife, withhandle removed from thefrontside; I j Fig. 5 is an edge view of knife shown in Fig."1,'with oneblade in open'position;

Fig. 6 is-a side elevational view of knife with'lining' and handleremovedfrom one side and havingnone blade inopen position disposedatright anglestohandle; and

Fig. "Zi's an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the right endportion of knife as seen in Figs. 2, 3 and.5 better to show the friction.plate for pivotal end of blade.

Referring in detail to .the characters of reference marked upon thedrawings, 9 representsthelining which may be formed of brass or othersuitable sheet metal and 10 the back which is positioned between the twoopposed longitudinal edgeportions of the lining and secured by rivets11. 12'represents the handle members which are secured to and cover theouter faces of the'lmings 9 by means of rivets 13, 14 and 15 thatpreferably extend through both "handle and lining members.

A shoulder bushing 16 is secured in one or both end portions of thelining to forma pivot for the fly-open blade or blades and by reason ofthe opening therethrough may also serve to accommodate the rivet 13before mentioned. This shoulder bushing is of such a construction'as tohold the linings in spaced relation sufficient to insure a free swingingd movement of the blade and in a way to prevent the heading of therivets from drawingtion sufiicient to reduce the speed, but allowthe twoliningmembers in against the side of the tang end of the blade as wouldotherwise be the case were the shoulder bushing not employed.

The lock feature of the fly-open blade may be similar to that employedin several patented forms of fly-open knives, for the purpose ofillustration, however I have shown a structure somewhat like thatillustrated in the above mentioned patent, and wherein the side of thetang portion is provided with an elongated recess 17 that extends onboth sides of the pivotal sleeve 16. This slot is adapted to be engagedby the inner side of the free end portion of a lever 18 pivotallysupported on a pin 1.9 secured in bearings 20 on the side of one of thelinings. Upon the other end portion of this lever 18 is mounted apush-butten 21 that projects forward through a hole 22 in the handle andis normally exposed beyond the surface of the handle in a way to beengaged and pressed against the action of the spring 23 secured to thelining'at 24.

This spring not only normally tends to hold the button exposed but alsoto hold the free end of the lever 18 in engagement with one or the otherend portions of the recess for the purpose of locking the blade ineitheran open or closed position.

25 represents the fly and brake spring, which as shown may be providedwith a shallow loop 26 designed to fit into a pocket 27 of the back 10and be secured thereto by means of rivet 14 positioned adjacent theback. Where two fly-open blades are employed as shown in Fig. 6, thisspring extends from end to end, for engagement with the tangs of the twoblades, whereas if the knife includes but one fly-open blade the springmay be shorter and be extended to engage the raised circular edge of thetang of that blade only, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8. This spring servesthe double purpose of throwing the blade out when released and secondlyin engaging the cam edge of the tangportion to brake the movement of theblade after it has been swung out a desired distance. It will also benoted that the spring is so shaped and proportioned as to rest upon thetang when the bladeis open, and to further close the pocket between thespring and the back in a manner to prevent dirt from entering,

The tang of the blade in my improved form of knife is materiallydifferent from that heretofore used on blades of this type, in that itstwo longitudinal edge portions are substantially straight and that acurved low por tion or pocket 28 is formed between one of said straightedge portions and the circular end of the tang, upon the cutting edgeside of the knife to allow the free movement of the blade for a partialswing of the same upon its pivot and to thereupon engage the remain inghigher surface in a way to provide fricing it to travel to a full openposition where it promptly becomes locked, by the same lock-. ing deviceheretofore described for locking it in a closed position. The extent ofthis braking operation is determined by the length and tension of thespring which not only throws the blade open but acts as a brake as abovedescribed to retard its speed and prevent a reboundif it strikes the endof the spring.

It will also be noted that the normal position of the end of the spring,when in position shown in Fig. 6, is slightly to one side of animaginary line extended from one pivotal rivet 18 to the rivet 14:, soas to, at all times, provide the desired friction upon the raised edgeof the tang of the blade, even should the end of the spring becomeslightly worn. By this means the blade will not be thrown violentlyagainst the back, causing it to rebound, and fail to lock, as is now thecase with most of the fly-open blade type of knives now upon the market.

As shown, I prefer to employ a nail file blade 29 in connection witha-fly-open blade type of knife of this sort and to mount the same asshown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 7 upon the rivet 15. The tang end of thisfile blade which is pivoted upon the rivet 15 is mounted between the twolinings 99 and has its tang or pivotal end in operative engagement-withthe face of one of said linings.

A concave friction plate 30 having a hole therethrough to receive therivet15 is positioned under tension upon said'rivet between the tang ofthe file blade and one of the lining members in a way to yieldably bearagainst the pivotal end of said blade and produce friction'suiiicient tohold the file blade in any adjusted position. This friction plate ispreferably elongated slightly and provided with a shoulder 31 to engagethe end of the back so as to insure proper positioning of the plate andprevent it from turning; The plate is preferably concaved or dished, asshown, crosswise of its length, better to provide the friction desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: i

1. In a press-button, fiy-open knife, the combination of a lining and aback, a blade having a back, a cutting edge, substantially parallelstraight edge portions, and a circular tang end pivoted in the liningand including a curved pocket therein adjacent the straight edge on thecutting edge side of the blade having a relatively higher circular edgeportion adjacent said pocket, a spring secured to the lining and backand positioned to normally lie flat against one of said straight edgeportions of the tang under tension in a manner to throw the blade openwhen released, the free end of said spring adapted to pass freelythrough the curved pocket of the tang during the preliminary openingmovement of the blade and to friotionally engage the remaining highercircular edge portion of the blade after the blade has been thrown halfWay open, and press-button releasable locking means for the blade.

2; In a pocket-knife, the combination With a handle portion including alining and back, a pivotal stud, a blade hingedly supported thereonWithin the lining, and an elongated friction plate mounted on the studand hav ing a shouldered edge portion to engage the end portion of theback and retain the plate in position, the said plate being bowedcrosslr Wise of its length and at its point of attachment to the stud.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, this 28 day of Feb, A. D. 1930.

GEORGE M. SCHRADE.

